Nose Wheel Rigging

5 posts in this topic

I own an Avid Flyer Speed-wing Model , Mark 4 and I want to be sure I'm putting the nose wheel back together properly.

I recently had to remove the nose wheel and fork with tube to do some repairs. Today I slid the nose wheel tube back up into the bigger tube attached to the frame of the aircraft. I place the collar bushing up and pin at the bottom and placed the "V" shaped cap on top. With the front wheel lifted off th ground I attached the left and right centering springs. When pushed the wheel returns to a straight ahead position. I then place the bolt through the end of the steering tube and through the V shaped cap. I then ran the tie rod with turnbuckles to the right seat left petal with the pedals and rudder centered and inserted the bolt. With everything reassembled and the aircraft front end off the ground I moved the left the right pedals. The nose wheel seemed inclined to turn left but not so much right? Why? It seems strange to hang a mechanical linkage to only the left pedal? What brings the nose wheel right?

This aircraft was taxiing and turning fine prior to the repair and my disassembly.

The Avid Manual does not really discuss any rigging.

Is the nose wheel supposed to be rigged so the springs return it to a straight ahead position? In line with the aircraft centerline?

Should I rig the return springs a certain way?

Did I put the tie rod in wrong?

Do I need to add a tie rod to the left seat right pedal?

Eager to hear what you guys have to say

Steve

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Steve, I am not an Avid owner, but I have been told that: 1. The springs should return the nosewheel to straight when rolling. 2. From what I have been told, the tie rod should go to the pedal that you push to make the plane turn opposite of the way the prop wants to turn the plane on takeoff, depending on whether you have a right-turning or left-turning prop. I think tie rods to both center pedals would be better, but guess that was not the way it was designed.

EDMO

Edited 28 January by EDMO

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Never had a nose wheel Avid, but will add this. When you push down on say the right pedal, the left one comes back/up. When you push on the left pedal, the right one comes back/up. Remember that the rudder pedals are connected to the rudder by the cables on both sides. That being the case, only one steering rod should really be needed I'm guessing. JImChuk

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Never had a nose wheel Avid, but will add this. When you push down on say the right pedal, the left one comes back/up. When you push on the left pedal, the right one comes back/up. Remember that the rudder pedals are connected to the rudder by the cables on both sides. That being the case, only one steering rod should really be needed I'm guessing. JImChuk

That's true Jim - I was thinking about the guy with the shimmy problem - seemed like more connections and redundancy would be better IMO. I think Chris B put dual rods on his new nosewheel. EDMO

Edited 28 January by EDMO

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Never had a nose wheel Avid, but will add this. When you push down on say the right pedal, the left one comes back/up. When you push on the left pedal, the right one comes back/up. Remember that the rudder pedals are connected to the rudder by the cables on both sides. That being the case, only one steering rod should really be needed I'm guessing. JImChuk

That's true Jim - I was thinking about the guy with the shimmy problem - seemed like more connections and redundancy would be better IMO. I think Chris B put dual rods on his new nosewheel. EDMO

Added: Dual steering rods might also take some of the strain off of the little rudder cables? One of the problems I see with the Avid steerable nosegear is that it don't disconnect and stay straight when the weight is off of the nose, unlike the RANS or Cessnas - That means in a crosswind you might land with the nosewheel crooked by applying rudder which could cause a groundloop unless you keep the nose up until you can neutralize the pedals and let it down. The Kitfox and RV castoring nosewheels don't have that problem either. I agree with ChrisB, that nosewheels are mostly for parking level and better visibility on the ground. I always liked the sound of my Cessna tailskid dragging the concrete! ;<) I would think that the MkIV elevator added to the earlier models would be a big help on this- Maybe VGs and sealing tapes too. EDMO